Right now, on an internet site, there is a ticket for next month's FA Cup final, on sale for more than £1,000. Can anyone really like football that much? In recent years, tickets for the Wimbledon men's final went for more than £1,500 a pair on eBay, while the best seats for the 2007 Rugby World Cup final between England and South Africa were resold for £3,459.

The online ticket reselling market is thought to be worth around £200m a year. This week, culture secretary Andy Burnham proposed that promoters and secondary ticket brokers adhere to a voluntary "code of principles" to restrict the sale of tickets at vastly-inflated prices.

The idea is that third party agents will agree not to re-sell tickets for certain major events, such as the FA Cup final, Wimbledon and the Grand National. The list will be based on the "crown jewel" sporting events that must always be shown on free-to-view television channels (the unauthorised reselling of tickets to football matches is already banned under public disorder legislation and it will be illegal to tout tickets for Olympic events).

"In some ways, the ticket list would mirror the existing broadcast list," says a spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. "But it may be wider and include events considered culturally significant, like one-off music events."

Some concerts would clearly fall into the "crown jewel" category: in 2005, some Live 8 tickets, which had been free and given out in a lottery system, were going for more than £2,000 on eBay; the company was attacked by Bob Geldof and agreed to remove ads. Touts put tickets to the sold-out Princess Diana memorial concert on internet sites at £500 (the face value was £45).

But how do you draw up a comprehensive list of the "crown jewels" of music? One person's Led Zeppelin ticket (one for their recent reformation sold at £21,000; face value £125) is another's Take That ticket (sold for £600; face value £45). Maybe that's the reason the government has ruled out legislating against all touting. A ticket to see one of Kylie's performances in July? Yours for £350 and rising.